Mbappé and Dembélé reconciled? Rothen questions relationship that has 'changed forever'

Kylian Mbappé denied any cooling of relations with Ousmane Dembélé during France’s gathering at Clairefontaine on Monday, but analyst Jérôme Rothen insists the relationship between the two players has been permanently damaged by their public dispute over the Ballon d’Or award.

Everything began with sharp-toned mutual statements. Mbappé affirmed his worthiness of the Ballon d’Or, saying: “He (Dembélé) was always seen as a talented player. As for me, I was always seen as the chosen one.” Paris Saint-Germain’s playmaker replied sarcastically: “I was never the chosen one, but I worked hard and last year I was rewarded for a great season.”

Upon returning to the France squad, the team captain sought to extinguish the fire. He said: “I actually spoke with him and no, there are no tensions. He’s a friend. I think there’s no real issue about this, I’m very calm. During the Nations League period, they always have to find some discussion and I think they found a good one.”

But for Jérôme Rothen, this partial denial reveals more than it reassures. He said: “There was a breakdown in their relationship, I stand by what I said. First, he doesn’t say nothing happened because he says they talked about it. Second, he says there’s ‘really’ no problem… and that ‘really’ can be analysed in several ways. I hope they didn’t argue when they met.”

However, the analyst takes a pragmatic stance on the sporting implications. He said: “On the pitch, if there’s a decisive pass between Dembélé and Mbappé, I really hope they put this small disagreement aside,” before concluding: “The relationship has changed, it will never be as it was before — I’m convinced of that.”

France’s squad gathering also coincided with Zinedine Zidane’s return to Clairefontaine after twenty years since his international retirement, which partly overshadowed the Mbappé and Dembélé controversy in the training centre corridors.